Around 950 CE, three new inventions changed the
way people worked the fields.
The
Plow: A new way to farm was invented. The new plow dug deep
into the soil. A plowed field was a line of deep furrows with soil
piled up on one side. Seed was planted and then covered with the soil.
Water ran along the furrows, which irrigated the crops. Crops grew.
The
Horse Collar: A horse can pull weight than an ox, but to do
so, horses need a special collar to protect their neck. The horse
collar was invented around the same time as the plow. That did the
trick.
Horseshoes:
The horseshoe was invented to help valuable horse work more
effectively.
The horse-drawn plow changed everything. It took
less workers to grow more crops. Even after storing ample amounts of
food to feed everyone on the fief all year long, there was enough food
left over to support small armies. These new well-equipped,
well-trained professional warriors were called knights.
You might hear people refer to any fighting men
during the middle ages as knights. But the knights of legend did not
appear until the invention of the horse-drawn plow.
